East Church Street-Starling Avenue Historic District

East of Martinsville's historic downtown, this 54-acre neighborhood spreads along East Church Street and Starling Avenue and several side streets. It holds 143 resources, mostly single-family houses built between the mid-1880s and the mid-1950s, along with a church, a school, a commercial building and a small post office. Three buildings are individually listed: the John W. Carter House, Scuffle Hill and the Little Post Office. About 70 percent of the buildings went up between the world wars, when the growing city pushed its residential area eastward and prominent businessmen built large, well-designed homes. The styles range from Queen Anne and Gothic Revival to Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Craftsman and the unusual Exotic Revival "Wedding Cake House" of 1918. Brick and wood are the main materials, with stone, copper and slate in the detailing. The district retains a high level of integrity, though conversions of some houses to offices have brought parking lots into former front yards.